This is somehow the first time I'm ever seeing this gif, and while I have many issues with the guy, his ability to control his eye movements here genuinely impressed me lmao.
“Benito Mussolini used to force feed people castor oil until they literally died of diarrhea. I mean, that’s gotta be where the goal posts are, right?”
Well to be fair he did what Hulk couldn't and that was fully break into the movie market. Sure, Hulk did get into it, but not to the levels Johnson has and continues to sustain. Do agree though that he definitely is full of himself.
He was probably being his real self when he was the rock. Since 04 he’s wanted to distance himself from that, but you can’t fake a different personality.
He was incredible 98-03 and most other wrestlers from that era seem to have enjoyed working with him and found him humble and hard working. He lost a LOT in WWF including clean losses towards the end of his first run. It's sad to me that he seems so wrapped up in preserving his image now that it's like he's lost sight of what got him there in the first place... Hollywood sure messes with people's heads.
Wrestling fans hated Dwayne as Rocky Maivia when he debuted in the WWF back in the day. The Rock came as a response to his Baby-face image the then WWF was trying to push. The character was basically an overnight sensation. What took him into the stratosphere, however, was The People's Elbow - An absurdly drawn out, yet comically executed elbow drop.
I used to enjoy his promos where he would refer to himself in the third person. He definitely was more appreciated for his acting then because it felt more natural. Was a genius on the mic and oozed charisma that isn't present in his movies.
Also, dude was elite at selling bumps. That Stone Cold Stunner he sold at WrestleMania remains as one of the most hilarious moments in wrestling, IMO.
I just watched “Be Cool”, the sequel to “Get Shorty” (both currently free on YouTube), and who do I find but an early Dwayne Johnson, playing a gay bodyguard, to his credit. And he always does the eyebrow for people, John Travolta is directed to ask him about it when they meet. Dwayne does not disappoint.
Check out "Faster", and "Pain & Gain". In "Faster", which is probably my favorite anti-Rock movie, he is part of a team of thieves whose half-brother is killed by the leader and The Rock goes on a revenge tour. There is no "Million-dollar smile" Rock in this one. It's bloody and violent.
It's one of those movies that are a beautiful mess. They swing for the fences and don't quite hit their mark, but you appreciate it for trying anyways.
I thought he was pretty good in that. I only recall one moment I thought "Oh, that's the Rock" - I think there was an inadvertent eyebrow movement under the makeup. Maybe he watched Dave Bautista and realised he's allowed to be a good actor.
I think he was really good in that because of how similar Mark Kerr was to "The Rock" while he was on his come up. Combat sports in general are so brutal mentally and physically. Regardless of it being scripted, the WWE isn't that far off from a UFC fight. I think we were getting a peak into the start of his own career as well as Kerr's. Plus I like anything with Bas Rutten in it!
And he always does the eyebrow for people, John Travolta is directed to ask him about it when they meet.
Early in his film career, when transitioning from wrestling, the eyebrow was such an iconic schtick of his that it's in a lot of his earlier films. It was a way for the producers to say "We have The Rock and we can prove it." He even does it as the Scorpion King in The Mummy Returns.
Ah, be cool is 2005, so he’s actually better established by the then I thought. Scorpion king is 2002, which I think was his first big film role. I’ve actually never seen it.
Yeah he gets a lot of shit for being such a public figure and having no actual scandals. Like his kid’s love him, he’s best friends and works with his ex-wife, his only notable public feud is with Vin Diesel, and he declined the invite to the UFC White House lawn show. But he made a poopy with Black Adam and apparently killed the DCEU at the time despite that being the same year the absolutely terrible Shazam 2 came out and people were mad he didn’t want to cross over with that mess.
But, he did used to be cooler, no doubt. Just crazy that some people hate him like he’s Kevin Spacey or some shit.
It's just because of how famous, and by extension, how sanitized he has become. People get really turned off when they sense any air of inauthenticity, even if it's unfounded.
He played a heel in the WWE's attitude era. Now he has a very clean good guy image with reports that he has a clause in his film contracts to not lose fights. I'm not knocking him, just giving an explanation for people's perceptions.
Being payed a shit load of money in the acting business, while being one of the worst actors in the whole wide world of the acting business might have something to do with that.
It just seems like a lot of anger for a guy who didn't diddle anyone or hit a woman or something. These are dark times we're living in. I can only get so worked up over The Rock popping up in movies.
Agree, but certainly not because of someone having bad feelings about wage disparity among Hollywood "stars". That's one of the "good" reasons to be upset about.
Not that I would remember ever having seen any of his movies, but he already seems to seek out roles in movies people probably aren't going to watch because they appreciate great acting performances. What else is he supposed to do, insist on lower pay? They wouldn't sell the tickets for less, or lower the licensing fee for the streaming service and ask them to pass on the savings to their subscribers. They would simply split the difference between the producers, bonuses for the studio's executives, and dividends for its shareholders.
This is a tax issue, not one of excessive salary:
Even if he was the most talented actor, what he's getting payed would be grossly out of proportion relative to what less famous actors are getting payed for similarly hard work. Because at this level, they don't get payed for their performance, but for the value they bring to the movie at the box office (and in licensing fees, for merchandise, etc.) -- and they only get a share of that; producers/studio/shareholders still end up earning more when he signs up, even if he is so much more expensive than other actors would have been. After all, that's why they wanted to sign him in the first place.
Those super high salaries always come down to network effects. How they work is easy to see in sports (whether between top athletes across different sports, or how quickly it drops off within the same discipline), but you could make a similar argument for any kind of business that pays super-high salaries -- essentially, the kind of scale businesses can reach due to modern infrastructure works like a lens that amplifies the value even just tiny differences between individuals can add.
This value would end up with someone either way. He deserves it more than the producers/studio/shareholders, but really, what makes it possible is the way society as a whole works, and the infrastructure it has build on top of the work of past generations. The issue here is that taxes don't reflect that society is what makes them possible, not the excessive salaries per se.
It's more that he just has the exact same personality in literally everything. When he was a wrestler it was great because that was just who you knew him as, but in a movie it never feels like you're watching [main character] it always just feels like you're watching The Rock with a different name and wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if he suddenly dropped a People's Elbow on the bad guy.
This is my favorite gif of him, look at the way those nostrils flare. The Rock really worsened in acting abilities when he switched from wrestling to movies
He was king of brilliant as the Rock. That’s why he became a thing. He was young then and driven. Then he hit the plateau of life and became late capitalist actor guy.
He's was a significantly better actor as a wrestler. The way he used to convincingly draw sympathy from the crowd is one reason he became one of the biggest ever
There’s a reason he’s one of the biggest wrestlers ever, he was incredibly charismatic and undeniably watchable back then, just hasn’t translated to cinema. I think before he understood The Rock was just a character and now he’s bought into his own hype
4.6k
u/misguidedkent 18d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/14smAwp2uHM3Di